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[Akuji]

Hey, wanna build my own DIY Arcade Controller.
Movement as buttons as well, want to have them feel close to a mechanical keyboard switch.

What switches/buttons can you guys recommend? Iam clueless on that front.

What USB/Board is currently one that is good? PC is the main plattform, wouldnt hurt if it works on PS4 and/or PS5.

Thanks in advance.

 

[MrA]

Happ parts, best chunky push and click like a mechanical keyboard
I mostly build atari stuff so I don't use any USB boards but I know there are boards that will meet your needs (pc and ps5)

 

[Relique]

I don't build many sticks but have some experience. I hope this is helpful.

If you want mechanical switches I think there's only GamerFinger buttons. Those aren't cheap though. They are a little bit hard to get as their main website/store is kind of shitty with orders getting stuck in limbo and no replies to support emails. They are usually out of stock everywhere but if you look hard enough you can get them either directly from Japan arcade parts provider like Sengoku or from ebay like this. https://www.ebay.com/itm/155029737919

For the board you have several options if all you are looking for is PC. Brook is known to have great boards with low latency. If you want to cover as many newer consoles as possible you can go for the Brook Universal Fighting Board. They also have a retro board that covers PC in addition to many retro consoles. You can also go their cheaper PS3/PS4/PC board if you that's all you need. Can't go wrong with either. Only downside is that those aren't officially supported on PS5 so unless the game developer adds support for it in their game it may potentially not work on every future PS5 native game. With that being said I think most PS5 fighting games today work with it or have a PS4 version that does.

If you don't want to deal with any potential compatibility issues you can mod an existing licensed PS4/PS5/PC stick or harvest the board from it. Swapping buttons to mechanicals and changing lever to whatever you want is pretty easy. That way you don't have to worry about future PS5 games not working.

 

[amigastar]

I've modded a Datel Arcade Stick with Sanwa Buttons and Sanwa Joystick. I love Sanwa stuff.
Here's my modded stick:

 

[BossLackey]

Brook Universal Fighting Board is a great option and works with basically everything under the sun (right under $100)

I really only have experience with Sanwa buttons, and they're quite good and the standard for sticks, but of course there are a ton of alternatives based on what you want. I know there are some mechanical switches, but I'm not really sure what that would entail, whether that's longer travel time and less button 'wobble' or what. Never used them on a stick.

What's your case solution?

EDIT: Obligatory Focus Attack link

Focus Attack

E-commerce shop and community platform for Fighting Game fans around the world.

focusattack.com

 

[Akuji]

Iam going to do my own case. Will be made out of wood.
I did an older Arcade stick with Sanwa buttons as well. They were good/great but not exactly what i want for movement buttons.
The MX-Switch buttons seems great. Maybe i go for those.

 

[Quasicat]

I've modded a Datel Arcade Stick with Sanwa Buttons and Sanwa Joystick. I love Sanwa stuff.
Here's my modded stick:

I love the Sanwa buttons.
I picked up an 8bit-do arcade stick a few years ago and modded the buttons. The stick is fine for me, but the tension was off at .2 lbs. I popped off the spring and replaced it with a 4 lbs spring which feels more like the arcades I grew up with.

To get it to play on the PS5, I bought a Brook Wingman XE on Amazon which converts the Bluetooth to USB.

I love the original NES color scheme:

 

[buenoblue]

I'm not sure what you mean by movement buttons?

 

[Fess]

What casing are you using?

I’d love to make a modernised Tac 2 joystick for TheC64, have the sticks and buttons from when I made an arcade cabinet, but I can’t find a suitable casing for a joystick.

 

[DelireMan7]

I'm not sure what you mean by movement buttons?

I guess not a Joystick. Like on a Keyboard.

I am not a expert in the matter, I just built a "hitbox" arcade stick few year ago :


I used Sanwa button and I am very satisfied. But it's not the same feeling as a keyboard.

For the board I used the Brook Universal Fighting board. It works on PS4 and PS4 games on PS5. Also works on PC and many platform (XBOX SERIES X|S, Xbox One, Xbox 360, , PS3, Wii U, Switch, NEOGEO mini, PS Classic and MD mini)
Easy to install since no soldering is required.

 

[buenoblue]

Oh wow. Never realized this was a thing. I guess no street fighter on that lol. Maybe you could mod something like this into it?

 

[buenoblue]

 

[Akuji]

I ordered these switches : https://www.ebay.de/itm/16523417096...33&osub=-1~1&crd=20220628181426&segname=11050
in total 16 switches. Size 24mm since i THINK that smaller one used for the Movement will be better for me. We will find out if thats the case
They dont have any nice brand name on the case but they use Cherry MX Low profile switches. Those are exactly what i had in mind. Will see if they work.
For starters i ordered a standard 10$/€ USB Board for use on PC. Had one of those boards in the past and they were fine. Maybe a bit of work to get them running but if i can save 30-40€/$ i dont mind it.
If i can get a PC/PS5 board for 30-40€/$ i will probably switch.

When everything arives and is done i will post a pic and my impressions. Thanks for the Input did influence my decision even if it does not look like it. As i said the MX Cherry Switches and the way they are build is fine. Wanna try them.

Yeah with Movement Buttons i meant like a Hitbox controller.

I may need to reorder 30mm ones for normal Button use OR even movement its hard to really know until i tried.
See you in 3-4 weeks when everything arrived.

 

[SkylineRKR]

In terms of form factor, I think the original Namco arcade stick for PS1 is perfect. I still have it. But the buttons and stick are kind of awful, they're stock. And its hard to mod. But the 6 button layout is golden. I do have a brook, it worked with PS4 but didn't test on 5. This stick is notoriously difficult to mod.

For PS5 I use the HRAP Pro N Hayabusa stick, which has a Noir layout (I prefer this). And to be honest, I love it. I've also owned the original Madcatz TE way back and I think the HRAP is better. I don't want to go back to Sanwa buttons again, they were mushy and I greatly prefer the feel of the matte finished hayabusa buttons. The stick itself i'm not sold on. Its not bad, but I did order an octagonal gate (for HRAP N, you need Kowal). I'll try that first and otherwise I might consider a JLF.

 

[SkylineRKR]

So yeah I went ahead and just decided to put in a JLF with octo and 2lb spring. Its glorious. I should've done this much sooner. Its MUCH better than the stock Hayabusa lever. I even made a huge mistake, I obviously just went to work on it, but the 2lb was pre modded by the supplier. I took the clip off, wanted to change spring until I read the plastic bag that said "original spring'. Reapplying that clip was the biggest problem lol.

But yeah, I fixed it anyway (by placing the edge of the chip on the table, and push it down. placed the octagon gate on it, got the Sanwa inside of the HRAP, screwed everything back on. Its impossible to go back to the looseness of stock sticks now. Personally I hate square gates, i'm likely just not precise enough and used to western arcades.

 

[Akuji]

Give us some pictures!

 

[SkylineRKR]

Its nothing major, this was the Hayabusa lever, with the removed JLF square gate and 0.9 spring. I chose for the same colorway for the JLF, so you can barely see its modded. Though the JLF bar is metal plated and not painted black. But it feels completely different. There is MUCH less travel, it returns to neutral in an instant, and with the 2lb and octo its hard to fuck up DP and fireball motions. The only difference is that you do really need to press when you want to do a backward jump into fireball motion or something. But you'll never jump on accident again.

I thought of Sanwa buttons, but then I thought of my TE1. And I much prefer the Hayabusa buttons. I have no issues with the sensitivity tbh, and they're less slippery because of the matte finish. I personally like how they feel, though they do make noise. I am going to take out the 2 buttons on the right side though, and replace them with caps. I just like the 6 button setup more. Its less confusing and I never use the outside ones anyway. Played a good bit of Tekken 7 online now and I didn't drop much combos. The inputs register really well, just db can be kind of tough but still easier than on square gate which has the tendency to go forward or down. But you have to be really bad to fuck up a fireball motion with this, its almost impossible, it can't overshoot.

 

[SkylineRKR]

I even went a step further. I wanted to try out sanwa buttons again since the stick was sanwa as well. Glad I did!

I have to say, I thought it liked the Hayabusa buttons but the Sanwas blow them out of the water actually. They make less noise and the longer press ensures you won't do shit you didn't want to do. I think Hayabusas are better if you need to quickly press buttons or play shmups or something, but combos go off far more reliable now that I have Sanwa. So yeah my HRAP N is full Sanwa now lol.

Its absolutely flawless. I almost never fuck up an input with the octo and 2lb spring. Combined with the sanwa buttons I pull off chain combos consistently in Vampire online. Its highly recommended to do this. I went with the Playstation colorway and since I mostly play Tekken with it, thought it was fitting. outer buttons grey. And the 7th and 8th are deleted. Option button is still hayabusa but who cares.